France was built under the Louvre the first «art» particle accelerator

The French government has built under the Louvre a small particle accelerator AGLAE, designed specifically for the study of sculptures and paintings, as well as to confirm their authenticity, according to Phys.org

«Until now, we almost have not studied paintings from the Louvre or other museums for the reason that we feared that the particle beam can damage their paint and get them to change the color,» said Isabel Pallo-Proscar (Isabelle Pallot-Frossard), Director of the Center for research and restoration of museums of France in Paris.

In recent years, history and art history is increasingly penetrating chemistry, physics and other Sciences, allowing you to see inside artifacts and works of art that were lost by the will or the will of their creators.

For example, recently, the British archaeologists were able to get photos of coins contained in a sealed box the reign of Ancient Rome, without opening it, and read the charred papyri from Pompeii. Similarly, there was found a secret portraits on the paintings of Rembrandt and Edgar Degas, as well as revealed the secrets of the chemical composition of paints British painters of the 19th century.

Typically, such studies are rare today, as the custodians of the museums fear that the beams of charged particles accelerated to near-light speeds, or even x-rays can destroy organic molecules and mineral pigments, or cause degradation of the canvas.

To solve this problem, the Centre of research and restoration of museums of France in Paris built under the Louvre, largest Museum in the country, a small particle accelerator with a length of 37 meters, which produces a relatively soft beams of protons and helium nuclei, accelerated to speed in the 20-30 thousand kilometers per second, equivalent to one-tenth the speed of light.

According to Pallo-Proscar, such particles are in principle not able to damage the masterpieces of great artists, but they are able to obtain all the data necessary to assess the condition of paintings, authentication and disclosure of potential secrets.

This accelerator has already begun its work – according to scientists, now they are studying the properties of ancient Roman statues Lar «family» of deities, found recently in the vicinity of the town of Bava on the border of France and Belgium. As I hope physics, safe nature of the work of the accelerator will make it more attractive for historians and art historians.